Must-reads before the high school football season

August 27, the first Friday of high school football games, can’t get here soon enough. Until then, here are some books high school football fans might want to read to tide them over until the start of football season.

“Down the Trails of Victory” by Jon Buck Ford- The story of Port Neches Groves High School football with complete chronology from 1925-1993.

“The Bleachers” by John Grisham- Grisham trades the coutroom novel for this book about a fictional high school football coach in Mississippi. Players are brought together by the death of the former coach, but don’t know whether to remember him as an evil tyrant or a good person.

“Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains With the Smith Center Redmen” by Joe Drape: New York Times reporter Joe Drape follows a small town in Kansas, Smith Center, as the team tries to break the record for most consecutive wins as a program, 66. The new group of seniors is supposed to be the least talented crop the team has had in years, so most expect the streak to end. Can the team’s heart and head coach Roger Barta’s system make up for it?

“Friday Night Lights” by H.G. Buzz Bissinger: The popular movie is based on this book, which profiles Odessa Permian High School, coach Gary Gaines and the team’s star players. High school football is an obsession in this town, but do they take it too far?